New Job!

It feels like the last month or so has gone by in a blur. I've been dealing with the transition of moving from a that job I love to an exciting job that I hope to love just as much; particularly sleepless children and everything else! Meanwhile poor Stuart has been trying to finish his 20,000 word dissertation.

Saying goodbye to Credo has been sad, I had a fun lunch with staff and a goodbye 'moment' at the Credo Partners jazz night. It was awesome to see 'old' grads from when I was a student to recent grads from the last few years. Thanks everyone who came and said goodbye and thank you!

Working for Barneys has been hectic, after 3 weeks of only working one day a week there is a backlog of stuff that I feel like I haven't caught up on because there's always new stuff to do! Add to that the general challenge of learning new things and moving our services to a brand new building, it's no wonder I collapse in a heap after the boys are put to bed.

If only they would stay in bed...

Aston and Stuart rehearsing with the band in the new Barneys building

Zachariah exploring mummy's new office

 

Brothers at 6 months!

August 2009: Aston 6 months old, 8.8kg, 63cm

 

February 2012: Zachariah 6 months old, 7.9kg, 66cm

Roommates

It's 630pm and my two little boys are fast asleep. In the same room! 

In the last month or so we decided to take advantage of the various sleep disruptions over the holidays and move Zachariah into Aston's room. I didn't think they would go to sleep so easily though.

They shared a room at Nana's over Christmas and didn't bother each other too much. I think Zach enjoyed the extra room in the portacot, he's been a bit unsettled and harder to put to sleep in his bassinet since we got home. Tonight I wrapped him, put him the portacot in his new room and he went to sleep all by himself.

Aston has been a nightmare lately, he's dropped his daytime sleep but gets so tired and cranky in the afternoon. Today he had an early bath and dinner and was in bed by 545! Hopefully he won't wake up too early in the morning and both boys sleep well through the night.

Breastfeeding

Before I became pregnant with Aston I hadn't thought much about breastfeeding, I assumed it was something that came naturally to most women and although I was aware that not everybody did it I didn't really know the reasons why.

Breastfeeding however is not always easy and it can take quite a while for both mum and bub to learn what they're doing. Sometimes they can't breastfeed at all.

Aston loved to breastfeed and other than sore nipples at the very beginning we had it mostly under control quite quickly, he loved it so much he developed a sleep association with feeding that made life miserable for all of us. You can read about that here. (NB. This was a problem for us, for others this kind of sleep association may be a more positive thing.)

I think I was expecting Zachariah to be like his brother, in fact I was a bit worried that as he got older Zach too might develop a similar sleep association. At the moment there is no chance of that.

Most of our feeding sessions are quite stressful and often accompanied with much crying. Poor Zach just can not get comfortable. I need to use two hands, one to support him and the other to support my breast otherwise he won't stay latched on. As well as this, my milk was coming out too fast and causing him to choke and gulp and upset his tummy, after a few weeks it settled down and now I think he struggles to cope with how hard he has to work to get his dinner.

After watching a feed the early childhood nurse said "it's not very relaxing or comfortable for either of you is it?" It was comforting to have someone else acknowledge how I felt. She suggested swapping sides every time he got upset which does help. After the first day of doing that Zachariah was a lot more settled during the day and did lots more poos which made me worry that I'd been under feeding him for eight weeks!

I also spoke to an Australian Breastfeeding Association counsellor who encouraged me to stay calm during feeds despite the screaming, to remember that it's Zach's problem not mine and if I am calm he will feel calm(ish) too. Sometimes this is easier said than done.

It is frustrating to not have an easy answer but we are soldiering on. It's not all bad, sometimes we do have a decent breastfeeding session with minimal crying and just this morning Zach stopped sucking and looked up at me with a very cheeky smile! :-)

A possible alternative to breastfeeding?

Two Boys

My two boys are so very different, I know I shouldn't be surprised but I'm amazed at how we can tell the differences in their personality at such a young age.

Aston was a very laid back baby, he would cry when he needed something and had moments of unsettledness but he definitely wasn't a 'screamer'. Zachariah is not a 'screamer' either but he does make a lot of noise when he wants something.

Zachariah is still working out how to breastfeed, he's getting a lot of milk but we're still learning what to do. By this time I'm pretty sure Aston and I had worked things out. Aston loved to feed too- he had milk every 2 hours or so and would take it every time it was offered. Zach eats every 3-4 hours and does not comfort feed, if I offer him a feed when he's not hungry he will cry!

Aston did not move very much at this age, Zachariah is always trying to move, he pushes himself up to stand when you hold him on your lap. He even tries to crawl during tummy time!

They look very different, Aston had a very round chubby face at this age and blue eyes, Zach is slimmer and has dark eyes- I think they are turning brown.

They have some similarities too, they both love being in the bath. They both have (Aston had at this age) a longish sleep period of 4-6 hours in the evening and lots of cat naps for the rest of the day.

I'm really enjoying seeing both my boys grow and learn and I'm looking forward to seeing them continue to grow up together.

Zachariah George Spires

Born 7.47pm on 19th August 2011, 4.020kg, 52cm long.

He is long and skinny and has a very round perfectly formed head. He even has a little tooth peeping out from under his gum!

At the moment he has two main states of being, asleep and dopey or screaming for food. Occasionally he is happy to sit and look around but very very rarely.

He loves to suck, I was determined to wait for a few weeks before giving him a dummy but neither of us would get any sleep without it!


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